


Run

by Sumthinelse



Series: Shelter [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Outdoor Sex, Rough Sex, description of painful forced sexual contact
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:13:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23041528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sumthinelse/pseuds/Sumthinelse
Summary: Stiles gets help from an unexpected source while looking for Theo.
Relationships: Chris Argent/Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Shelter [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1654153
Comments: 9
Kudos: 93





	1. Tease

**Author's Note:**

> Rape/Non-Con scenes are depicted in a video, but described.

Stiles visited the Weres at Heather’s shelter and ran into an old friend.

“Danny?”

“Hey Stiles.”

Danny was as adorable as ever with his sweet dimples and soft, brown eyes. He was sitting in the break room with a laptop open.

“What’re you doing here?”

“I do tech support for Heather’s YouTube channel.”

“Nice.”

Heather’s shelter was flashier and got more traffic. She had sponsors and a public presence because she had started a web series about the shelter that had taken off and now regularly posted videos. The production of them was quite good, and Heather had a real gift for editing. She also put almost every penny of the profits back into the shelter. Deaton and Heather weren’t competitors, they were allies. Heather regularly praised Deaton for taking on the harder cases that her shelter wasn’t equipped to handle, and the vet would see her Weres in an emergency at no cost.

“What’re you doing here?” Danny gave Stiles a quick once-over. “Are you looking for a job? I heard the farm might not re-open for a while.”

“Not for adoptions, but we’re re-building, and the stable’s available for intake if strays or wild ones come in, but there haven’t been many since last summer, and none since the fire.”

“They catch everyone?” Danny asked, lightly.

“No.” Stiles sat quietly. “They didn’t have much to go on, but the first break-in was an inside job. Three people who came in as volunteers and then employees. No one’s seen them since the fire.”

“The FBI can’t find them?”

“There’s no _evidence_ linking them to the second attack, and some evidence that it was more of a hate crime and not motivated by theft.”

“Where’s the Omega now?”

“We found him a permanent home.”

“Good.” Danny leaned closer. “In some _other_ communities, I heard a few rumors. When the FBI was asking around, they talked about a video that got leaked online.”

“Yeah, me getting thrown around by a Were.”

“I might’ve found some others.”

Danny brought Stiles back to his apartment after he finished work, and Stiles agreed to leave Danny’s name out of anything he brought up. “I’m not a vigilante, but I do keep my eyes open for certain kinds of things, and this is one of them. I’ve been trying to track down the physical address where they’re uploaded, but no luck so far.”

Stiles knew about Were porn. Like a lot of taboos, it had its fanbase. Stiles had come across plenty of videos of Weres on breeding farms, the use of relief Betas, and the footage in the wild and the fake stuff with a woman and a guy in plastic fangs. This was something else.

Danny clicked on several videos that featured wild Weres being caught out in the wild, restrained, and abused in various ways before being released. It was practically a snuff film because of how badly they were injuring the Weres. Eventually, Stiles saw the video Danny was looking for. It didn’t show the faces of the human, only the Were as he was chained up in a stall.

“He’s got some knot block that we’re gonna get out for him and then we’ll see how he feels.” The human handler had the Were on a crude, St. Andrew’s cross and got a little footage of the snarling Were’s face. “He’s a bit ornery, but you would be too if you were backed up and it was mating season.”

The human kept up a commentary as he lubed up his fingers, rubbed them inside the Were’s anus. He started slow, but worked up too quickly. The Were yelped and howled until they eventually gagged him, before finally fisting him with a gloved hand. The Were was bleeding before the end, but the people filming all cheered when he eventually ejaculated, claiming ‘He likes it!”

“When was this put up?” Stiles’s voice was hoarse.

“Over a year ago.”

“What did you find?”

“Not the same IP address as yours, but there are enough clues with the servers he picks to make me think it’s the same person uploading.”

“It’s him,” Stiles cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. “It’s Theo. I know that voice.” He took a few breaths. “Have you found others? Any that are more recent than mine?”

“I’ll show you what I’ve got,” Danny said. Stiles knew that Danny had his limitations. He could only do so much before it got risky for him, and Stiles didn’t push for more. “You have someone, right? Someone who looks for these things and who isn’t in the FBI, right?” Stiles narrowed his eyes. “I was worried when you got attacked at the shelter.”

“That’s so sweet.” Stiles kinda wanted to blow him, but it wasn’t a new sentiment. “It’s nice to have you watching my back. Uh yeah, I can bring it to someone. I won’t tell him where I got the info.”

“Thanks.”

“This is huge, Danny. Is there anything else I can do for you or the shelter, or anything?” He saw that Danny was about to wave him off, and continued, “I do have a few connections, and if we’re in the _no questions asked_ category of favors, I might be able to help you out.”

“Do you still have access to Alpha Weres?” he asked and chewed his lip. “The paper trail was vague on what happened to them when you transferred your stable Weres over.”

“You need essence?”

“Your online shop is closed down.”

“I think we can work something out.”

~

Stiles went out with Isaac to Jungle before telling Peter about the lead on Theo. He wanted as many people’s scents on him as possible to cover the young hacker. He trusted Peter, but that’s because Peter liked him. The Alpha would have no qualms about using Danny and putting pressure on him to take risks if it meant finding the conspirators and making them pay. Peter answered the door himself rather than buzzing the Omega in.

“I got your text. Where’s Isaac?” Peter was dressed in snug jeans and a soft, v-neck t-shirt that rippled over his bulging muscles. Stiles was already a little horny from the writhing mass of bodies he’d just left, but he pushed that thought down, instead of Peter, who seemed solicitous of the human who he considered a member of his pack.

“Wanted to stay longer.” He looked around the apartment. “Is Malia home?”

“No, she and Kira are over at Scott’s for the night.” He glanced at the window. “Full moon, they want to be there for him and your dad.”

“Not you?”

“I’ll go if they need me, but they both do a little better when I’m not standing over them.” He smiled, proudly. “Malia’s very strong, she can handle a few Alpha pups, and Scott’s almost ready to handle moons alone.” He put his hand on Stiles’s shoulder and guided him to the couch. “What did you need?” Stiles told the Alpha about the dark web videos of Theo abusing Alphas that had been found.

“Some of them were older, some were more recent.”

“Did he do it at Deaton’s?”

“He was only unsupervised once, so I don’t think he had the opportunity.” He flopped onto the couch and leaned his head back on the cushions. “Theo came into the Alpha barn when Ennis had knot-block. Deaton told me Theo had experience in a breeding farm. It might be true, and it would have given him access.”

“His videos might be how Julia Bacari found him.”

“McCall said he’d only found the messages from him to the mercenaries from the first break-in. If he had other contacts, he wasn’t traced.”

“The FBI doesn’t have my contacts.” Peter smiled. “Who’s your friend?”

“He approached me because he saw the story about the shelter. He’s got his own battles to fight and came across this stuff incidentally and passed it to me. Anonymity was part of the deal.”

“What’s the other part?”

“Essence.” Stiles smiled, “I’ll talk to Lydia and see if I can go over next time Derek needs to unload those massive balls of his. I’d ask Erica, but because of the arson, the insurance company is taking a long time processing her claim, and she needs Boyd for the income right now.” He licked his lips and smiled at Peter. “Chris might still be awake,” he glanced at his phone for the time. “He’s usually still working at his desk. I could probably crawl under it and get what I need from him.” He shifted in his seat and let his knees fall open. “Kinda makes me wet just thinking about it.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Omega.” Peter’s eyes flashed red and Stiles could see the bulky muscle tensing up under that obscene t-shirt. “Trying to make an Alpha jealous is a careless thing to do.” He rolled his neck and went very, very still. It was unnerving when Peter ceased all movement, like watching a big cat poised to attack. “You can walk into my bedroom, drop your pants below your ass, and bend over the bench at the end of the bed, and I’ll go easy on you.” He smiled, widely and sharply. “Or you can try to get back to your apartment. You get a five-minute head start if you want to try your luck, and the clock starts the moment the front door closes.”

Stiles froze in fear as he saw the tension in the Alpha’s shoulders. He was filled with the primal instinct to run, far and fast, and try to escape the beast. Peter going easy on him wasn’t appealing since the term was very subjective. On the other hand, if he were caught, Peter would…go hard on him.

In the end, the tiny flicker of movement, a slight feint by Peter propelled Stiles off the couch. He bolted for the door and the Alpha was a step behind him.

“Don’t move from that spot,” he ordered, and Peter stopped a few feet short of the door. Stiles opened it and ran down the hall to the elevator and pushed the button to go down. Then he dashed back and stood just inside the apartment and set a timer on his phone for five minutes with his thumb poised over the start button. Peter’s chin was down, and his fingers were spread out at his sides.

“Cheater.”

“You set the rules,” Stiles replied. The elevator door opened, and Stiles swung the door shut behind him as he made a dash for it and started the timer. He might lose time with the elevator, but he needed to conserve his energy for sprinting to the jeep, and then from the parking lot at his apartment to the closest door. He was already planning his driving route in his head and where he would park when the doors opened. He ran through the lobby and out the door, pounding down the pavement to the visitor parking when he patted his pockets for his keys and came up empty. For a second he thought he’d dropped them and was about to turn back when it struck him. “You picked my pocket you son of a bitch.”


	2. Animal then, animal now.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> resolution of the chase

As a child, the Stilinski basement had held relatively few terrors, just the washer and dryer, the furnace and hot water heater. The light was a pull cord that hung halfway down the stairs, and well within the circle of light from the kitchen that made up the universally acknowledged basement safe-zone boundaries. As a child, Stiles could walk down the stairs in that pool of light, pull the cord, and take care of his laundry without incident. The return trip was a different story. No matter how bravely he’d traversed the steps on his entrance into the underground space, his heart always beat rabbit-quick when he reached for the cord on his way back up the stairs. His muscles would tense up, he’d inevitably run the last few steps up and slam the door behind him, followed by the sense of relief and relative safety that the basement door provided.

Looking at the park, Stiles knew it was the fastest, most direct route to his apartment and he made the split-second decision to go that way. He still had just over two minutes, and the same fear that pushed him up the basement stairs, the one that had told him to at least try to run rather than walk willingly into the jaws of the wolf. It almost felt like a relief to let go and run full-tilt into the woods. The nervous tension in his belly was still there, but now that his legs were pumping, and eating up the path beneath him, it felt good, like he was being effective.

When the timer went off, Stiles swore out lout, and the feeling of being at the bottom of the basement stairs, looking up at the kitchen returned. He was so _fucked_. He was an idiot for playing Peter’s game. Peter took his keys, despite traffic being more of a likely hinderance to Stiles than a help and had given him the head start because he’d wanted to encourage the Omega to run. With no head start, Stiles would’ve stood his ground. He wasn’t without defenses, and he’d never gone up against the Alpha.

Stiles had walked right into Peter’s trap, and he’d done it on a full moon. The Omega took a hard right and leapt over a shallow stream, costing himself some speed going up a sharp incline in order to lose some distance. He heard nothing all around him, no crunching of leaves, no howling, and no growling in the darkness, and paused to catch his breath and get his bearings. In the dark, with the full moon hidden by clouds, he could see very little. Too his left, he caught sight of the ornamental fountain that was empty and quiet this time of year and ran towards it. Beyond it was a small, wooden footbridge, several well-groomed trails, and the ornamental garden that abutted the edge of the park and was close to Stiles’s building.

The Omega made it past the fountain, heartbeat picking up again as he was more visible in the open area, and he’d just made it past the first set of ornamental bushes when he was tackled from behind and dragged into the trees. Blind in the dark and disoriented by the trees and bushes, Stiles found himself face-down in the grass with the Alpha panting over his back. His skin felt tingly from the overstimulation of adrenaline and the press of the strong fingers on the back of his neck.

“You. Planned. This.” Stiles grunted as he struggled to catch his breath. He could feel the heat of the Alpha’s body radiating in contrast with the cold ground.

“I haven’t had a good hunt like this in far too long.” He dragged his teeth along Stiles’s shoulder. “There’s something that’s so satisfying about catching your prey, before you eat it.” His hand moved around to the front of Stiles’s pants and popped the button. He dragged down the zipper and worked them down over the cheeks of the Omega’s ass. The chilly air on his ass made Stiles start to tremble. “Oh, that’s nice.”

“I-I don’t think-”

“This time, you don’t taste or smell like Argent.” The words made Stiles push back as his belly clenched with something hard to define. “It’s just us out here, Stiles. No one to come rescue you from the big bad wolf.”

Stiles kicked and fought slamming his foot into the Alpha’s groin. He might be able to heal from it, but it would still hurt like Hell. Peter snarled with pain and Stiles scrambled out from under him, ready to run, but turned around instead, to face the angry Werewolf. Peter was hunched over, eyes glowing red and fangs glinting as he growled.

“No one to rescue you, either.” He yanked up his pants, not bothering to fasten them, and trotted off into the trees, whistling softly. It was warm for March, and he knew his father, his best friend, and the Betas of his lover would all be someplace else. He owned the darkness right now, and there was nothing out there more dangerous than Stiles, and the Alpha about to bone the daylights out of him.

An angry rumble and a crash of branches was a warning as Peter thrashed his way through them. Stiles snickered as he pictured an angry Werewolf shredding the trees in impatience. “You know they spend a lot on the arborists, right?”

“Run!” The Alpha growled and Stiles took off, not because he was afraid, and not because he was in danger, but because he wanted what Peter was going to give him. At least, he was pretty sure. Peter wanted him to run because _he_ wanted to chase and hunt. He was either not recovered yet, or toying with the Omega as he ducked through the trees, laughing and gasping for breath as he made a good attempt at ducking and rolling, despite the pants issue. Eventually, Stiles found himself thrown over a mossy rock with his pants and underwear shoved down to mid-thigh and a more energetic Peter snapping at his nape. “I should leave you like this,” he hissed, sliding two thick fingers into his Boy’s ass. Stiles moaned and writhed, not trying to hold back his voice.

“It was a love-tap,” Stiles whined, trying not to laugh. His chest expanded with elated breaths. “Come on, I thought you were an apex predator!”

“I’ll show you, you little shit!”

Peter pushed the round, bulbous head of his cock into Stiles’s hole.

“Fuck!” Stiles gasped. He dug his fingers into the moss and bore down.

“That’s the idea,” the Alpha growled and started thrusting wildly. The Omega hung on to the rock desperately as Peter started pulling him back onto his cock and ramming his hips into Stiles. “I’m gonna knot you and pump you so full, you’ll look pregnant!”

“I…thought…you…were gonna…actually…fuck me!” He chuckled as the growl got deeper. “Did I tell you?” he gasped, “about what Chris did to me…the night of the break-in?” He groaned as Peter stood up, lifting his legs and hips. The rock was thankfully flat on top because the Alpha flipped him onto his back and re-entered him. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” he said, resting his hands on the trunk of a tree behind his head, “he was driving me back to the shelter…ungh!” He broke off as Peter pushed his knees towards his chest and nailed his prostate. “He told everyone he’d left his laptop at the office, but I saw it-ah…. in the back.” Peter started fucking harder. “He pulled over and dragged me right out of my seat.”

“Does this feel like leather upholstery?” Peter made him skid along the rough, mossy surface.

“He started to suck me, but I begged him to fuck me, even though I knew how much it was gonna hurt.”

“You like pain?”

“No,” he hissed and then paused. “Yeah, okay, sometimes.” He groaned as he got a brief, reprieve while Peter fumbled with his shoes and pants. “But I liked how he…Just. Went. Wild.” His last words were punctuated by hard thrusts. The moon came out from behind the clouds and Peter paused, balls deep in Stiles’s ass. He closed his eyes and turned his face up to the moonlight. His shirt was torn down the front and sweat glistened in the moonlight. His face was human, and there were no claws at the tips of his fingers.

“That’s the real reason Christopher is so ashamed when it comes to you,” he said, opening his eyes and looking at the moon. “It’s like I told Scott.” He gripped the Omegas ankles in each hand and spread his legs wide with his knees bent. Stiles was open and vulnerable, like he was being offered as a sacrifice to the moonlight. He started to thrust and looked down at Stiles as the moon slipped behind the cloud, and his eyes glowed red in the darkness. “He’s the same animal he’s always been. No more, no less.” His pace was hard, but steady and controlled. “He’s always had something dark and vicious inside of him, and he sensed how much you wanted it.”

“What about you?” Stiles’s hands were braced on the tree as the thrusts picked up speed and intensity.

“I’ve never been ashamed of it.” He threw back his head and howled as he came, pushing his knot into Stiles and jerking the Omega, hard and fast. Stiles let out his own howl as he spurted over his chest and stomach. Peter folded him up and lifted him off the rock, bringing them both to the ground where he could wait out his knot with Stiles in his lap. He wrapped his arms around him, petting and stroking his Boy, and keeping him warm while he waited for his knot to go down.

“Want to come up to my place?” Stiles asked. “Stay the night?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Stiles will start looking for Theo together and learning more about each other's lives.


	3. Baggage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Stiles didn't get to know Peter before before the toxin, I wanted them to have a chance to talk. Stiles only knows what Chris told him, and what he's seen from Peter to draw his conclusions. I wanted Peter's intelligence and insight to come through. I also wanted to present an alternative Peter, one who might've made a reasonably good, if inexperienced alpha.

“Thank you, Sweetheart.” Freshly showered-because Peter wouldn’t refute Stiles’s theory that the moss was covered in squirrel pee-the men climbed naked into Stiles’s king-sized bed.

“For letting you sleep in the bed you bought?”

“The bed was a gift, who sleeps in it is up to you,” Peter corrected, quickly. “I meant for trusting me with tonight.” He opened his arms and Stiles slid in beside him. “You were scared, but you did it anyway.”

“There’s fear, and _fear.”_

“Oh?”

“The primal, exciting fear of the monster under the bed, the one that makes you jump from the light switch to the mattress. That’s what makes you run, it’s also where anticipation is.”

“You had another fear.” Peter shifted around in the bed, letting go of Stiles, pulling the younger man’s arm out to the side and then laying his head against his chest, going from the cuddler to cuddled.”

“Yes.”

“Were you afraid of me?”

“No.” Stiles ran his fingers through the wolf’s hair and wrapped him tight in his arms. Peter rolled over until he was lying on the human’s chest with his chin resting on his sternum. He looked up as Stiles reached for the lamp. “I don’t know what it was about, but to be honest, I’ve got a lot of shit to work through, and I don’t want to focus on it too much.”

“Are you sure?” When Peter spoke, his pointy chin jabbed Stiles, painfully.

“Ow! Yes.” He let his knees fall to the sides and drew the wolf’s face up to kiss him on the lips. “I don’t need to process everything before I can move forward.”

“I’ve recently caught up on pop psychology from the last six years,” Peter said, laying his cheek on the human and going limp like a warm blanket. ‘It was very informative, and I think your generation has a good chance of becoming emotional invalids, but I did find a few aces I could keep.”

“Do tell, Dr. Phil.”

“It’s like your experiences are journeys, and when you finish, you’ve got all this baggage to unpack. Some of it you brought with you, some you picked up along the way, but your bags are full when you get home. Your next journey is waiting for you, but you have choices: Unpack your bags, wash the clothes, give away the souvenirs, and put the new artwork on the walls, and the new spices in the pantry. You take the time to enjoy your memories, put the new experiences to work in your life at home, and wait for the next adventure, but you may miss out on something great. Or, you can step off the old train, and onto the new one without ever unpacking. You won’t miss out on the fun, but you’ll be starting out with dirty clothes, and souvenirs you meant to give away, artwork you can’t enjoy, and spices you ‘ve never tried out in your own recipes.”

“Good analogy, I handed one to Isaac about Duke, it involved eating an elephant someone else put on your plate.”

“Sounds delicious,” Peter said, drily.

“Just call me Al. All-egory.” Stiles felt his chest jiggle as the wolf chuckled. “I’ve just had the most intense journey of my life, and it’s not over yet. I’m trying to hang on to everything I can and move forward until I’m in a place where I can set it all down.”

Peter accepted this explanation enough that he drifted off beside Stiles, and the Omega held him as he stared at the ceiling in the dark while he chased his own sleep. In the morning, Isaac woke them both in the kitchen.

“Jesus, he’s a fucking morning person,” Peter grumbled.

Stiles used the bathroom and came back to find a wolf had stolen his spot. He went out to the kitchen when he smelled coffee and greeted his roommate who still smelled of smoke and sweat.

“Are you just getting home?” Stiles asked, stumbling to the coffee maker and pouring himself a cup.

“Yeah, I crashed on someone’s couch.” The Omega yawned and scratched his head. “It feels weird to do that.”

“Once I got my own place, it took a while before I stopped feeling like I was playing house.” He added sugar and a splash of milk. “Did you meet anyone?”

“Damned if I can remember any names,” Isaac shook his head. “Not bad people, nobody tried to mug me.”

“Pretty good start to the weekend.”

“What’re you up to?”

“Just helping Deaton with the plans for the new barn, or whatever’s gonna replace it.” He shrugged and sipped his coffee. “You?” He looked up and caught Isaac giving him a funny look. “What?”

“I can tell when you’re lying.” He looked hurt. “You don’t have to worry about me wanting to do stuff with you all the time, you know.”

“I have no problems tell you when to fuck off because you’re cramping my style. My _major_ plans involve Deaton. I might have some less-solid plans to try and find Theo that might or might not pan out. I may look for signs of him online, but I also may decide to scrap it because the FBI might get wind of it.” He put the cup down. “But that was kinda heavy, and it’s barely six-thirty.”

“Right, I gotta stop getting pissed all the time.” Isaac looked upset and pushed past Stiles to head for his bedroom.

“Do you want to come with me to Deaton’s?”

“No, thanks.”

Peter ventured out in his boxer-briefs and padded over to the coffee maker. He took a cup and poured himself some of the hot brew.

“How does it work with caffeine?”

“It doesn’t,” Peter grumbled, scratching his balls and sipping his coffee black. “It’s not the caffeine, it’s the hot liquid and the routine that calms the mind and focuses it.”

~

Stiles and Peter got dressed and Peter took what Stiles had given him and went to meet with someone he knew about the videos. He used to do a bit more with computers, but six years in a stall meant that his knowledge was obsolete now. Lydia checked in and assured him that things were fine with Derek, but Stiles got the impression they might have been less fine with Jordan. He kept it to himself, however, because it was none of his business…yet.

Deaton kept Stiles and Scott busy with planning, repairs, and the regular veterinary practice for two solid weeks before Stiles and Peter had news.

“Come to my apartment tonight,” Peter said, eagerly.

Stiles found the place empty, and Peter told him that Malia had been feeling suffocated and was renting a place with Erica and Boyd. Kira was staying with the McCalls, which left Peter alone most of the time. “It’s the official Alpha’s den, so we meet here regularly, and I have frequent overnight guests. It feels like how Talia used to do things.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Probably.” Peter shrugged. “Anyway, I think I’ve found the little bastard.”

“Where?”

“Cleveland.”

“Ohio?”

“Well, he might not be there, but his little girlfriend is…or was.”

Tracy, the young woman who’d played with Isaac sweetly, and who’d likely made it possible for the original break-in to occur, was dead. The Cleveland police didn’t have her name, to them, she was just the victim of a mugging with a stab wound to the chest, and no I.D.

“Think he did it?”

“Doesn’t really matter,” Peter shrugged it off. “Either he did it and is eliminating his partners, or someone else did it and is planning to eliminate all of them.” He watched Stiles who was staring at the crime scene photo of Tracy’s corpse. “Stiles, they all chose to deal with criminals, and they’ve had plenty of opportunities to approach you, or the police if they were being coerced.”

“I know,” Stiles said, “I think that’s why it bugs me so much. They all seemed so nice. I mean Theo was smarmy, too perfect for it to be an act, but Tracy and Cory seemed okay.”

“You can’t expect everyone to have the same perspective. To you, they endangered the lives of people you care about, to them, they were just hired to steal a fancy poodle.”

“Even more than…the others, I feel like I need to understand what was happening in Theo’s head. He’s so young, and to be so twisted that you’ll hurt others to satisfy a fetish…”

“Stiles, I like you, and because I like you, I’m going to tell you something you might not want to hear.”

“You’re not a nice man?”

“Very few of us are,” he said with a shrug. “We learn to think in shades of gray and we do things with the understanding that there are more lives at stake than ours. We live in shades of gray. I run in medium to charcoal at times. Cora was a nice heather gray, and Derek always thought he was closer to black than he really was.”

“So, you lack a moral compass?”

“That’s not fair.” Peter looked disappointed. “I’m not saying you led a charmed, or privileged life, but your perspective about where to draw lines are based on much more limited experiences.”

“I know,” Stiles said, defensively.”

“Theo may have looked and acted like a pretty normal guy, but people like him have had years to learn how to hide their experiences from the rest of the world.”

“His sister.” Stiles turned and looked at Peter. “He told me about losing his sister, and at first it felt like he was handing me a sob story, but we went to have a beer and talked for a few hours. There was something about the way he talked about her that made me believe that she at least existed.”

“That’s a good starting place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recently lost my mom, and a lot of things were left unsettled between us. That's coming out in the story. Whether I want it to or not.


	4. Finding Theo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to give some perspective on an alternative history for Theo. This gives some of his background via other people's stories.

Flashback: January 2020

Stiles slid into a booth at Charlie’s Bar and Grill. Theo went to the bathroom but left his coat with Stiles. He accepted a pair of menus from the waitress and glanced at one until his co-worker returned. Theo slid onto the seat and puffed out his cheeks as he blew out a big breath. Stiles smiled at him and made sure to show some teeth.

“What’s good?”

“Stuff’s pretty basic, but everything’s good. I haven’t had a bad meal yet.” He smiled at the waitress, who looked about forty and reasonably good-natured. “What’s good, Marcy?”

“Everything,” she replied, breaking into a genuine smile. “How was work, Honey?”

“Good to be back.” Theo was insincere, but he made an effort. Marcy seemed to either buy it, or at least appreciate the effort; she took their orders and left them alone.

“Sorry the holidays suck for you,” Stiles said. “They did for me for a while. When Scott’s parents split up, we started doing stuff with them for holidays and we got to a new version of normal.”

“Maybe that’s what my parents need to do.”

“What was your sister like?”

“Tara? She was an older sister.” He shrugged and was quiet for a moment, looking distracted, and then his face brightened up a little bit. “She loved dancing. I mean, she was terrible at it, but she was constantly moving and bouncing around the house, listening to music.”

“Did she take lessons?”

“Nah, we couldn’t afford it. It’s not like we were living in total poverty, but Tara had some health issues and was in and out of the hospital a lot, so there were always a lot of bills.”

“I hear that, we nearly lost the house after mom died.”

“Did she have cancer?”

“Frontotemporal dementia. It’s like getting rapid onset Alzheimer’s. She stopped remembering things, got really confused, and then eventually her system just shut down because she wasn’t eating.” He nodded at Theo, “What about Tara?”

“She had a heart condition. She was chronically sick and spent most of the winter each year with a cold. Always getting hospitalized with pneumonia.” He pressed his lips together. “Ironically, none of those things killed, her. She was walking alone and slipped on a little footbridge in the winter and fell in a stream. She died of hypothermia.” He drummed his fingers dramatically. “Just goes to show that no matter how hard you try, when your number’s up, it’s up.”

“Yeah, I’m with you on that, but I still look both ways before crossing the street.”

Stiles and Theo got their beers and kept up small talk while drinking them until their dinners arrived. Stiles asked a little more about Tara and Theo started to talk, as he opened up, Stiles felt like he was seeing the real guy behind the smiling devil who’d set up the shelter. He wondered how much of his background was a lie.

“Most people I knew didn’t have Weres, we lived in an area where there were a lot of farms, though and I saw the labor Weres working a lot. My dad was a mechanic for big machinery, so I spent a lot of time on the farms with him when he’d repair them. I wasn’t allowed to play with them most of the time, but I loved watching them work and play.” He had a small smile on his face. “They were these strong, beautiful, wild creatures, but they didn’t always get treated very well.” He frowned. “I wanted to rescue them, but my old man always told me I had to stay out of other people’s business, because they were the farmers’ property.”

“That’s too bad.” Stiles nodded. “That’s mostly why I do what I do. I want people to understand them, so they _want_ to treat them humanely. It seems silly that we need to make ant-cruelty laws.”

“Some of the dairies were pretty horrible,” Theo’s lip curled in disgust. “If anything made me want to be nice to them, this was it.” He glanced at Stiles’s plate. “Sorry, I don’t want you to lose your appetite.”

“I don’t want you to lose yours,” Stiles replied. “Can’t be worse than what I’ve seen.”

“Maybe.” Theo told Stiles about how his father was working on one of the essence processors and that he wasn’t allowed to be in the main barn with him because there were so many volatile Alphas. “The other employees mainly ignored me, so I went to go stand in the back room. Because the machine had been down, there were a bunch of Alphas with knot block. The way they dealt with it was pretty rough.”

“Suction?”

“No, there was this big guy who had these huge, meaty hands and someone would lead in the Alphas, put them in a mountain ash yoke and this guy would slop some lard on his hand and just go to town on them. They were all…screaming and crying, and he just went on them like he was unclogging a drain. They’d be bleeding afterwards, and when he saw me looking upset he just shrugged and said they’d be healed in a few minutes.”

“Like the pain wasn’t important.”

“Exactly.”

~Present

“I found her.” Stiles looked at Peter who was standing in his doorway. “Tara Raeken did exist, and she did have a younger brother named Theo.”

“Was she sick, like he said?”

“Yes, but he lied about how she died. She wasn’t alone, and she didn’t slip on a footbridge. She fell through the ice on a pond and drowned.” He raised his eyebrows. “Theo was the only witness.”

According to the article, Tara Raeken, (11) had been walking home from school when she wandered onto the ice to retrieve her hat which had blown out onto the ice. Her brother Theo (9) had run back to the school for help, but rescuers had been unable to revive Tara once they were able to retrieve her from under the ice.

“Do you think this was the start of things for him?”

“Well, subsequent articles mention his family suing the private school where it happened, and an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed amount.”

“So, things improved, in a way.” Stiles rubbed his chin. “That can make people go a little nuts. Being grateful for the fallout that your sister’s death created.”

“If he had hopes of that, they were quickly dashed.” Peter laid out another stack of financial paperwork. “Tara’s parents donated a huge chunk of money to have a new pediatric wing named after her.” He pointed to a bank statement to make his point.

“They got out of debt, right?”

“Tara’s hospital bills got written off, but they didn’t spend a penny on changing their living situation. They certainly didn’t spend it on Theo.” He set out work permits that started at age fifteen for a Were breeding farm. “He got paid minimum wage to clean out barns as a kid, when his parents could’ve led a more comfortable life.”

“Any sign of abuse?”

“A police report or two about him getting into fights at school, but nothing once he turned eighteen.”

“Smart enough to know he’d be charged as an adult.”

“His parents still live in Oregon.” Peter took out his phone. “McCall and Jones probably spoke with them, already.”

~

Danny’s hacking, Peter’s contacts and Stiles’s research narrowed the search for Theo and two weeks later, Chris, Stiles, Isaac, and Peter were checking into the Hotel Drisco Pacific Heights. Peter had booked a two-bedroom suite for the long weekend, and rented a large, black SUV.

“I thought you’d feel right at home, Christopher.” The Hunter’s mouth had twitched, which was as much emoting as Stiles had seen from the man in a while. Isaac was having fun, despite their mission, or because of it. As a last act of good faith, or perhaps an attempt to soften the Omega’s feelings towards him, Duke had mailed Isaac a check for the amount he claimed Isaac was owed for the value of his family’s estate. The Omega Were hadn’t been happy about it at first, but unlike Theo Raeken’s parents, he didn’t make an obscene financial gesture that would leave him without money.

Stiles and Isaac were banished from the hotel and told to mingle for several hours while the adults made ‘arrangements’.

“They mean sweet-sweet love,” Stiles said, not bothering to lower his voice as he and Isaac walked out of the suite.

“Do you think they switch it up?” Isaac asked as they headed towards the elevator.

“What happens in rut, stays in rut,” Stiles replied.

“Unless it’s hilarious.”

“It’s all fuzzy,” He said with a shrug.

“So, is it true what they say about guys who play with guns?” Isaac asked. “Because Mr. Argent has a lot of guns.”

“Maybe you can catch a peek of him coming out of the shower,” Stiles suggested. They rode the elevator down to the lobby and walked out. Isaac and Stiles’s wardrobes had been chosen by Lydia who’s threatened them if they deviated from her carefully chosen outfits that she’d accessorized and packed in individual zippered bags.

“Come on,” Isaac cajoled.

“I don’t kiss and tell…at least I won’t until you’ve seen it for yourself.”

“I’ll tell you what they were saying as w left.”

“It can’t be as juicy as what I’ve got.”

“That big, huh?” He wiggled his eyebrows at Stiles who rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. I won’t ask.” He looked a little pink in the cheeks.

“Are you into Chris?”

“I’m not going anywhere near someone you’re involved with,” Isaac said. “I’m not someone who’d do that to a brother.”

“Thanks, but Chris and I talked, and he’s told me he can’t commit until he’s dissolved his role in the company. I didn’t mind being discreet, and it was pretty hot, but he did have a point about having a responsibility to Allison and the other employees. Working with guns, you tend to run into a lot of conservatives who will be happy to buy their guns from men who openly oogle titty magazines.”

“I openly oogle titties,” Isaac said.

“Me too. And frankly, Chris and Peter do too, just not openly. Well, Peter’s pretty blatant, but Chris is way too classy.”

The Omegas went to a restaurant and enjoyed being tourists with money in an expensive city. They ordered tiny, overpriced cups of coffee, overpriced, overly descriptive craft beers, and Stiles made sure they were early for the reservations he’d booked in advance for cocktails at a trendy, molecular gastronomy bar. Isaac declared he wanted to go to culinary school when he ate something that looked like flowers but smelled like a meaty mushroom.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know, but it’s awesome.”

They walked around and talked about everything that popped into their heads and watched the sunset from the top of a hill together.

“This is so romantic,” Stiles said, putting his head on Isaac’s shoulder.

“That’s like double the gay,” Isaac said. “We’re guys and both Omegas, it would be the gayest gay hook up ever.” He gestured around him. “And we’re here in San Francisco.”

“Too cliché, you’re right.”

“And speaking of clichés!” They heard clang of a trolley car and rushed to go ride it. They took obnoxious selfies like a pair of assholes and then walked back to the hotel. Chris and Peter were both in the main room looking over a map and some other papers that looked important to Stiles.

“Did you talk to the tall McCall?” Stiles asked, sliding into a seat beside Chris.

“Yes, he talked to the Raekens and some of Theo’s teachers. Not many of his classmates are still living in the town, but a few people remembered him.”

“What was the story?” Isaac leaned against the back of the couch, crossing one long leg over the other. Chris leaned forward slightly on the table and looked at his notebook.

“The Raekens were hard workers but not very ambitious, and I think nearly everyone who spoke about them mentioned them being stubborn as mules. You couldn’t change their minds about anything.”

“Sounds lovely, what about Tara?” Stiles asked.

“She was older, and she did have a heart condition, but it was manageable. Mrs. Raeken spent all their money on taking her to the emergency room for every little cough. Theo’s dad made a decent living, but medical bills were crushing them.”

“What about Theo?”

“Attention-seeking behavior when he was younger. Theo was remarkably healthy. Never sick, no broken bones, pretty strong, but never allowed to participate in sports. After Tara died, the gym teacher and the school nurse both agreed that they thought Theo was trying to get himself hurt so his parents would notice him, but even when his nose got broken in basketball, the principal threatened to take him to the emergency room himself and call CPS to get them to come to school and pick him up.”

“They ignored him because he was lucky.” Three pairs of eyes turned to Isaac. “They felt guilty for Tara being sick and sacrificed everything, even Theo, so she wouldn’t feel bad.”

“What happened after she died?”

“The school settled pretty quickly. The neighbor said her son said once or twice that Theo seemed to perk up about the settlement and talked about how his family might take a vacation together.”

“That’s sensitive,” Isaac said, but Chris shrugged.

“He was nine, and his sister wasn’t coming back. That alone wouldn’t make him a monster. His mother talked to the neighbor later and when she brought it up, Mrs. Raeken said the money was Tara’s and paid off the medical bills, then donated the rest. She refused to put any of it away for Theo’s college because it was blood money.”

“I almost feel bad for the guy,” Stiles said. “Theo started working at fifteen, right?” He looked at the paperwork and Peter handed him the work permit. “This in and of itself isn’t a red flag, a lot of kids get jobs for extra money.”

“His college record is unremarkable, he didn’t get stellar grades, but he did well enough until his junior year when he got kicked out for posting videos of him with another student without permission.”

“I think he probably deserved it,” Isaac said. “That’s not cool.”

“Apparently he had a website up that showed homemade porn for free and got money from advertisers. At first none of the girls came forward because they didn’t want to be identified, but a few of them were recognizable enough even without showing their faces; they were getting harassed and went to the school administration and he avoided criminal charged by agreeing to leave school.”

“So that was the start of his video career?” Chris nodded.

“Money and attention seemed to be his biggest motivators, things his parents didn’t give him. He worked at the farms because it gave him access to Weres. He made videos of them because they couldn’t complain, and they’d heal from the injuries. He’d move on every few months and worked his way across the country to California. He’s into the scene out here.”

“Scene?” Isaac asked.

“BDSM,” the hunter answered. “But Theo’s not the kind of person who’s there for the night reasons. He probably made a lot more porn before meeting Julia.”

“And she hired him, just because he made porn?”

“She probably wanted someone who didn’t empathize with them. If she found Theo and offered him a bunch of money to help her steal an Omega, he’d jump at the chance. Theo’s charming, she’d have had no use for him if he acted like a creeper.”

“How about the others?”

“Not sure how they met, Tracy doesn’t have a record, and Corey’s almost nonexistent on paper.” Peter pointed to a spot on the map. “We’ll go here tonight and watch. If we have an opportunity, great, but just count on it being a recon mission.”


	5. Closure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrapping up Theo.

Stiles walked into the club wearing a harness, tight jeans and a bracelet on his wrist that identified him as a sub. In addition to his clothing, Stiles had a sleek, black mask covering the top half of his face, because according to Peter, his nose was memorable. Isaac was similarly dressed but had just used makeup to draw a band of charcoal gray to cover his eyes in a pseudo-mask. Peter and Chris were already there, and Peter shouldn’t have been easily recognized by anyone, but Chris had actually needed to disguise himself. In the past two weeks, he’d grown out his beard, and skipped his last haircut. He’d darkened both beard and hair, but his most recognizable feature was his eyes. He wore dark contacts and with his usual tan, Stiles thought he was rocking a Mediterranean vibe.

“If he’s coming tonight, he’s not here yet. Both Chris and Peter have his scent.” Isaac spoke without looking at Stiles and the human nodded as they started to mingle. Being-in Isaac’s opinion- absolutely adorable, they got plenty of attention. Most of it was pretty respectful, but when they made it clear that they were more comfortable with women, they had a few sour attitudes. Eventually they made it into the back and split up. Isaac was eventually approached by an older woman who looked like she knew what she was doing. She was polite, inquisitive and asked all the right questions. Then she led him into a room to talk. Stiles was approached by several men before he approached a younger woman who looked a little less confident.

“Hey,” he said, leaning back against the wall beside her. They were watching two men doing some basic shibari. The Dom was speaking quietly to his sub, giving instructions and checking in with him.

“Hey,” she glanced at his wrist band. “You here with someone?”

“A friend. We both like submitting to women. You?”

“I’m here with a friend,” she nodded to the Dom and Sub. “He found a guy to Dom him. I’m still looking for a sub.”

“Do you have a preference?”

“Not short-term.” She smiled. “Angela, but you can call me mistress, if you’d like.”

“Mike, but you can call me slave after we have a chat, if you like.”

Stiles went to sit down with Angela and asked her about the club. “Sorry, I haven’t been here before, and I’m an Omega, so I have to warm up to a place before I get comfortable, is that okay?”

“Never apologize for telling me what you need. And never apologize for asking for what you want.” She gave him a smile.

Angela knew a lot about the club, and apparently she worked part-time administratively in order to get a free membership. Stiles asked her how long she’d been there, and how she got into it. Angela answered his questions patiently and asked some of her own. He answered truthfully that he had a lot of shame because of what he was, not only an Omega but also attracted to men. He had even more when he realized he liked being dominated, but he’d had bad experiences trying to get what he wanted from men who were fetishists, so he wanted to try with women.

Angela told Stiles about their security and how guests could ask for help, and how many staff were usually there. He asked about their vetting process and how she got hired.

“I knew one of the bouncers. You usually need to know someone here, but sometimes we hire on an outside recommendation.”

“What, like a letter or something?”

“Yeah, or someone who moves might have come from another club and their boss might call or email.”

Isaac came into the room and gave him a look.

“Hang on, I’m just going to check in with my friend.” He frowned, since she couldn’t see his face. “Can I get your email address or number? If we have to go, I’d like to talk to you again.”

Angela gave Stiles her business card, asked permission, and then hugged him.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, I heard Chris and Peter tell me to get you out of here because Theo’s just arrived.”

“Okay.” Stiles took the Werewolf back to the hotel and they showered and waited for Peter and Chris. When they returned, at around three in the morning, Isaac was a little agitated. Peter’s presence calmed him, and they went into the bedroom to talk while Chris took Stiles into the other bedroom. He hugged the man and caught a hint of bleach and wanted to laugh about Werewolves cleaning up after going to a club where there was kinky sex. “Seemed like an interesting place,” he said to the hunter with a smile. Chris had a funny, calm look on his face. “What is it?”

“Theo wasn’t working he went to the club tonight because he got a text from another employee. They had a cleaner who recognized me. It was Corey.”

“You didn’t smell him?”

“He wore coveralls with cleaning chemicals on them, I didn’t smell him till I got close, but Peter heard him say my name on the phone to Theo. Apparently he saw me on the security camera when I checked in.”

“He must’ve been looking for you.” Stiles chewed his lip. “What else did he tell Theo?”

“He didn’t get a chance.” Stiles stared at him for a moment as he caught the meaning. “Both of them. It’s done.”

“Oh. Did you have any problems?”

“No. And we checked their phones, neither of them sent messages to anyone I don’t think Corey knew what Theo was planning, but before he came to the club, he got trash bags and some duct tape.”

“He was getting rid of his partners.”

“Corey must’ve been useful in some way, because he kept him close.”

“Tracy was less useful. Did you question him?”

“No time. Peter got a peek, he was looking to see if there was anyone else involved, but Theo forbade Corey from telling anyone else. He didn’t want anyone to have blackmail material on him.”

“Okay.”

“You seem disappointed.” Chris put his hand on Stiles’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, I guess I wanted a chance to get some answers from him, like why he did it, and why he _liked_ doing it.” Stiles sat down on the big bed. “I’m just trying to understand how things like this start happening to people.”

“He’d have never told you the truth, Stiles.” Chris tapped the end of the Omega’s nose. “I know how much you want answers, but some people don’t even know their own motivations. I knew my sister and my father for a long time, I knew they were a danger to me and that there was less loyalty than competition with both of them.”

“That must’ve been fun.” He remembered Peter’s comment about how Chris was no more of an animal now than he’d been as a human.

“I could understand most of their motivations and manage them to an extent, but I still didn’t think they’d murder me.”

“I’m sorry.” Chris put his hand on the younger man’s head, and he knew the hunter understood what he was really apologizing for. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not. I’m grateful that _you_ didn’t have any doubts.”

“You were probably their worst nightmare. A Werewolf who knew everything about being a hunter.” He gave a small smile. “How did they find out?”

“I don’t know why they suspected me, but Kate put down a line of mountain ash. I walked past her, hit it, and she put another one behind me. I don’t think she knew that there are packs of Werewolves who raise families like humans. She was too angry to think until my father arrived.”

“Angry?”

“At first she was elated. She crowed about how she’d always known she was the better hunter she just didn’t know how I was cheating. I told her I was bitten when I was in my teens, and by that time I already had the reputation of being better than most kids my age.”

“Modest too.”

“I had no choice but to be the best,” he looked a little sad. “I could never rest until I did everything better than the guys a few years older than me. Gerard was obsessed with presenting a prodigy, but it was all practice. Endless, exhausting practice.”

“How did Kate take the news?”

“It didn’t help that I told her she was delusional about her own skills, and that she was never more than mediocre at the basics. I tried to tell her it was because our father didn’t care enough about her to train her, but she shot me a few times.”

“That’s awful.”

“It’s over. They can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

“Neither can Theo.” The hunter rubbed Stiles’s back and stood up. “I’m gonna wash this junk out of my hair and beard.”

“Okay, I already showered, so I’ll just turn in.” Stiles stripped down to his underwear and slipped between the cool sheets. He wasn’t sure why he’d wanted to know Theo’s motivation so much. From what he’d understood, his parents had probably been mostly to blame, but he couldn’t help regretting the loss of the opportunity to confront him about what he’d done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want Stiles to get his opportunity to ask Theo what was in his head. In life, we rarely get to understand why people do things that hurt us, and I wanted Stiles left with that confusion.

**Author's Note:**

> This will be short, but a few chapters.


End file.
